EBay (http://www.ebay.com) is in the middle of its Analyst Day, and just a little while ago it announced plans for some significant expansions for eBay Now, its same-day delivery service, with Chicago and Dallas (https://twitter.com/ebayinc/status/317315356047839235) deliveries coming this summer (https://twitter.com/ebayinc/status/317315472209108992), and integration of the service into its "core experience" as it gears up for competition with Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/prime) and now Google (http://www.google.com/shopping/express/about/).
The comments come on the same-day that Google officially confirmed its move into the same-day delivery business with the launch of Google Shopping Express (http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/28/google-starts-testing-google-shopping-express-today-in-sf-free-delivery-at-target-walgreens-staples-and-more/).
It looks like there may be some competitive clashes ahead between the search giant and eBay:
Google is debuting its service with Target, Walgreens, Staples, American Eagle, Toys"R"Us/Babies"R"Us, Office Depot, San Francisco's Blue Bottle Coffee, Raley's Nob Hill Foods, and Palo Alto Toy & Sport, and is gunning for more (https://services.google.com/fb/forms/expressretailers/). EBay, meanwhile, offers same-day delivery also to Target, Walgreens and Toys "R" Us, as well as Best Buy and Macy's.
It's come to be seen as essential for pure-play online companies to also bridge further into what is happening offline. That' s been part of the motivation behind the creation and investment in PayPal Here for mobile-phone based commerce at point of sale, and it's what is driving eBay Now.
Dane Glasgow, vice president, mobile & local at eBay, noted that about 90% of shopping is still done in physical stores. Within that context delivery plays make a lot of sense: he noted that about 75% of of commerce actually happens 15 miles from home. "Our ambition [is to] bridge the gap between online and offline through retail thru great tech, platforms & experiences," he said.
First launched in beta in San Francisco in August 2012 (http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/05/ebay-is-launching-a-same-day-shipping-service-called-ebay-now/), eBay Now, which is available as an app (https://itunes.apple.com/app/id564040819), then extended to New York (http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/15/after-launching-in-sf-ebay-brings-same-day-delivery-service-to-new-york/) in November and will be coming to Chicago and Dallas (https://twitter.com/ebayinc/status/317315356047839235) this summer (https://twitter.com/ebayinc/status/317315472209108992).
Via: TechCrunch